" Patient, Female is shrewd, sage, and so darkly funny--what a treat to take a break from this world and go spend time in Julie Schumacher's." --Claire Lombardo, author of The Most Fun We Ever Had "Julie Schumacher offers more of her signature wisdom and sharp eye for telling situations in these thirteen stories of contemporary life. Her people are robust and failing, wise and off the mark, yet they all move through compelling situations and maneuver crossroads toward a new beginning that the reader can imagine beyond the last line. Everything about these stories is expert--I read them with deep pleasure and satisfaction." --Alice Elliott Dark, author of Fellowship Point "In turns, profoundly unsettling and slyly funny, Patient, Female explores the kaleidoscope of ways humans relate to each other--as parents, children, spouses, siblings, lovers, friends, and colleagues--with wit and needle-sharp prose. Julie Schumacher is brilliant at chronicling the high-tensile cable that connects even the most distant of family members, and the uncertainty and devastation that can result from even the simplest and most loving of choices. Truly, every one of these stories is a gem." --Katherine Heiny, author of Games and Rituals and Early Morning Riser "Julie Schumacher's mesmerizing collection made me laugh out loud at the same time that it filled me with a sense of foreboding.

How does she manage it? With characters so finely tuned that they vibrate on the page and with a keen eye for the ways in which it's our human lot to hurtle toward uncertain futures with our hearts laid bare. These stories are masterful and wise." --Marisa Silver, author of Mary Coin.